


This Addiction

by NorthernBelle



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-30
Updated: 2015-08-30
Packaged: 2018-04-18 00:37:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4685582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NorthernBelle/pseuds/NorthernBelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sidney Crosby is caught with his pants down.  James Neal has pictures to prove it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part One

This addiction,  
Can’t seem to live without you.  
This addiction,  
No going clean.  
Go through withdrawal without you.  
Sick with this addiction in me.

 

 _“What are we doing? We never meet without a solid alibi,”_ Elizabeth thought as his lips danced on her neck, his large strong hands pawing at her hips and thighs. She was straddling him as he leaned back into the plush leather sofa in his downtown condo. _“He didn’t wait long enough before leaving the bar.”_ Her thoughts were stopped when he ground up into her, his suit pants doing little to mask the growing thickness.

He had shown up at the bar, win or lose as planned, with their group of friends after the game. A few drinks were tossed back, but he wanted to get out from under the view of their friends. He wanted to get her out of her clothes. Two beers on top of the three from the game, Elizabeth excused herself to the bathroom. As she opened the door to head back to the table, he was walking down the short hall.

“Meet me at the condo,” he stared her right in the eyes. “You leave first; I’ll leave fifteen minutes after you.” She nodded, licking her lips at the desire dripping from his words.

 

Six months ago, Bitsy or Bizzy as her friends knew her wouldn’t have imagined being here, in this condo, with him doing what they were doing. Six months ago she had been happily dating Jacob, her boyfriend of two years. Five months and twenty-three days ago, Bitsy had walked in on Jacob fucking his secretary on his desk after hours. She had believed him when he said he had to work late on a case he was first chair on, and was looking to bring him a nice dinner to make up for their canceled dinner plans. After opening the door to his Northside law offices at seven o’clock and dropping the Pyrex container full of homemade rigatoni on the high-end, cream Berber carpet, the container popped open against the flooring, sending red gravy spattering.

Elizabeth thanked her lucky stars she hadn’t moved into Jacob’s four-bedroom, four-and-a-half bath, and brick front colonial he had just purchased in Wexford. She was upside down on her GMC Gas-Guzzler, and couldn’t afford to drive so far out of the city and back to work at UPMC where she was in her fourth and final year of medical school working as an extern. A lawyer and a doctor, they were the American dream. 

And that’s what brought her here, in this condo overlooking Market Square. For two months after walking in on Jacob, Elizabeth went through the motions. Get up, go to the hospital, work, study for boards, go out for beers with friends, go back to her modest, converted industrial apartment to study some more, maybe watch a little television before going to bed to turn around and do it all again. Two months ago she had done just that, meeting a group of friends she had known for over three years. 

The group had met when her best friend Kirsten, a journalism graduate got a job covering some sports on the local CBS station, was called up to cover a Penguins game when the regular guy was out with a heart attack. After the post-game interviews, the pair met up to celebrate Kirsten’s first big TV spot and Elizabeth’s passing her first mini-boards and a well needed break; the players just happened to walk into the same bar. Drinks and laughs were shared, marking the start of wonderful friendships. It had been one of night at the end of the 2011 regular season when Sidney Crosby had joined new teammates James Neal, Matt Niskanen, a hobbling Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal, and a few others for post-game celebrations of their fourth game in a row won in a shootout. Both injured players left after the others had downed three beers.

 

He edged the deep V-neck over with his scruffy cheek and bit at the swell of her breast. The large hands slipped under the cotton t-shirt she had worn to the second-round playoff game he had just played hours before. Calloused fingers slid up her back before raking back down pulling the skin in white lines under the pressure. Elizabeth needed to feel his hot skin against her own. Her fingers unlaced from his hair. It had been a month or more since he last had a haircut with wisps of curls around his ears and nape. Delicate hands crisscrossed in front of her and pulled the cotton tee overhead before reaching for the buttons on his blue dress shirt.

The man could wear a suit. His broad shoulders, expertly tone torso, thick thighs, and massive backside made for the perfect frame on which to drape Italian silk. But that same body, the body which rivaled that of Zeus and Thor - gods - looked even better once the articles hit the floor. At the first sight of his sculpted chest and rippled stomach, Elizabeth couldn’t keep the smile off her face. Many got to see this, but for the last three months it was hers.

 

He had waited, choosing to get to know her for six months - all of which he spent time flying across North America to see concussion specialists. Sidney knew she was classically beautiful, intricate, soft features reminiscent of old Hollywood actresses like Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, Marlene Dietrich, and Greta Garbo all wrapped into one. He was crazy to think she wouldn’t get asked out before he was ready. But he was still recovering from post-concussion syndrome, and needed to get healthy so that he could play some of the season. 

She had turned down the advances of Neal and Talbot, and as the group of friends hung out he knew she wasn’t attempting to ‘land a rich, hockey player’ as so many in Pitt girls did. She truly enjoyed the friendship, the camaraderie of the guys. Elizabeth enjoyed the casual company of men more than that of catty women. A beer drinking, sports loving girl who could dress up or dress down and still have every man looking. 

Two months, he gave her two months to get over the heartbreak of catching her cheating ex in the act. Really he gave her one, but for the entire month of January he couldn’t find an ‘in’ to make his move. Until the night before he was to leave Pittsburgh for Newark, New Jersey and ultimately Sochi for the Olympics. He had invited those still in Pittsburgh, their wives/girlfriends, and the few friends they all shared over for a last supper before they turned into enemies rather than teammates. 

After sitting around his new home’s large dining room table, which he never used, eating a catered meal, the couples who would be split up for two weeks left early to spend quality time together. The singles stuck around, drinking a few beers and cocktails while watching the latest comedy to hit pay-per-view. Elizabeth had fallen asleep curled up into the arm of an oversized armchair. The chair swallowed her up as she used the arm as a pillow. When she had first fallen asleep, Kirsten who had the night off from anchoring the nightly news grabbed a fuzzy throw from by Elizabeth’s feet on an ottoman to cover her. 

The movie ended and she was still napping as everyone filtered out of the large house. Kirsten wanted to wake her friend, but Sidney knew Elizabeth had a tough week of her clinical rotation in pediatrics. They had chatted the week prior about how hard it was watching children suffer illnesses. Sleep had been far and few between during the first half of the four week rotation. 

“Let her sleep,” he had told Kirsten softly, watching the long rise and fall of each breath she took. “She needs it, you know she does.”

“Bits has to be at the hospital tomorrow at seven, if she doesn’t wake up tonight, make sure she’s up by five to go home and shower,” Kirsten told him pointedly gathering her purse. “And don’t let her sleep in that chair all night. Lord knows you have a spare bed or five in this monstrosity.”

It wasn’t until close to midnight when he was checking to make sure he had everything packed or ready to be packed when she stirred and found herself alone in the family room. She knew she wasn’t alone in the house and after checking the kitchen and office on the main floor, she made her way up the stairs to the only other room Sidney used, his bedroom.

“Hey,” she announced sleepily. 

Sidney jumped a little as he repacked his Hockey Canada apparel in one of his suitcases. “Hey,” he replied, watching her wrap her arms around herself and lean against the door jam. “Have a nice nap?”

“Ha, yeah.” A smile broke across her mouth, tugging at his heart strings. “Sorry about that. I’m sure you need your sleep. I was just going to tell you bye and good luck, and then be out of your hair.”

“Bitsy, you aren’t ‘in my hair’. And don’t say sorry. You needed sleep,” he reasoned, turning his body towards her and taking a few steps away from the bed. “You never bother me. Sometimes you are the only person I want to talk to,” he confessed, his cheeks darkening as he looked to the carpet. _“You can do this. Tell her you like her. That you love her,”_ he coached himself.

“I’m not going to be getting any late night phone calls while you’re gone am I?” she teased, pushing away from the doorway. “Well they can be late night for you that would make it like lunch time for me.”

“I’ll try not to call when I know you’re sleeping,” he smirked, opening his arms and motioning for her to walk into his embrace. When her arms slid around his waist and chin rested gently on his shoulder, brushing lightly against his neck a sigh escaped his lungs before breathing in her scent. Always Coco Mademoiselle by Chanel, it’s all she wore. No matter who wore it, it made his brain flash to her smiling face. He had to do it now, before he lost his nerve. “Hey, listen. I know this is kinda not the best time to ask this,” he started, pulling back a little to look her in the eyes. “But, uh, would you maybe want to have dinner with me when I get back?”

“Dinner?” she questioned, taking in his nervous demeanor. “Oh,” she followed up once she understood. “Like a date.”

“Not like a date. An actual date. Me, you, dinner, wine, candles. The whole shebang,” he swallowed his stomach as it threatened to catch in his throat.

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, that sounds nice,” she breathed out, her lower lip skating between her teeth and a blush burning her cheeks. “No.”

“No?” he croaked quickly, eyes widening in terror.

“No, not no to dinner. Yes to dinner. But a date doesn’t sound nice. It sounds like an amazing idea,” she reassured, a smirk pulling her lips pert. 

“It does?” he questioned, receiving a nod. He laughed slightly, a smile ghosting his lips before he reacted. He kissed her. He kissed her with such hunger it knocked her backwards. 

She didn’t sleep in her bed that night. She barely slept at all.

 

A heated kiss reunited them for a few moments before his hands and mouth found the swell of her breasts contained under satin and lace. He pulled the cups down, releasing her into his palm and mouth. Her hips pushed into his, the seam of her skinny jeans pressing up into her clit as she moved over the hard shaft in his trousers. A growl vibrated from his mouth before he pushed her to stand. He followed, standing nose to nose and growling for her to get naked.

Belts clanged, metal hitting metal as they both shoved their pants to the floor kicking them away for good measure. She gave him a view of her ass swallowing a bright blue thong as she bent over to free each foot. It was then that he couldn’t wait any longer. Grabbing her wrist as she stood up he spun her around and bent her over the arm of the sofa. Her backside on full display, her back sloping down to a mess of long brown hair. She knew at the bar that tonight wasn’t going to be like their first night. The first night three months ago was sensual. Tonight was lining up to be rough, nasty, dirty and she was excited for it. She barely had time to react. Sidney had his boxer briefs off and yanked her thong down before she could push the hair out of her face. 

He entered her forcefully, causing her to squeal in surprise. The first strokes he made were long and hard, bottoming out each time. Gasps caught in Elizabeth’s throat causing her to grip the sofa cushion, her short nails digging into the leather. A strangled moan passed over his lips, eyes rolling back at the sensation of the velvety walls engulfing him.

“You feel so good,” he called out, gripping her hips and speeding his pace. “God, I love your fucking ass,” he added, laying a hand down hard on one cheek. The smack cracked loudly in the otherwise quiet condo, followed by a sultry groan into the cushions.

“Mmm,” she hummed, bracing herself to meet his penetrating thrusts. “Do that again,” she begged. His other hand came down with a louder crack immediately followed by a moan through gritted teeth. When his sharp rams started to hurt more than pleasure her, Elizabeth clenched around him to slow him down a little.

“Ah, fuck,” he spat. “That’s dirty, Zizi,” he told her, using the nickname he only used in private. “I love your pretty pussy. I love how it feels around me. Tell me how much you love me fucking you.” Dirty talk was new. They had fucked and made love, he had fucked her doggie-style, but his mouth was never dirty. He complimented her, told her to ride him, and told her she felt good, but this was all new. “You love me fucking you. My cock deep inside you.”

“Oh God yes,” she cried out, when his hand came down hard on her backside again.

“Touch yourself,” he demanded, leaning over to bite just below her shoulder. 

He slowed his thrusts with the movement of her nimble fingers as she circled her clit, grinding into her with rocking motions. Her back started flexing on its own, moving against him. In both hands he palmed her ass, clutching and moving the large muscles as it met his lower stomach with hollow clapping sounds. She took care of herself, eating right and working out to be both toned and feminine. Good genes helped. She was blessed with both tits and ass while most women only got one or the other. Being just an inch shorter than his stocky frame allowed her to thrust back and ride his dick, taking some of his control away.

Three months ago, he never knew the always classy, future doctor with a slightly foul mouth could make him feel so good. He never doubted she would be bad in bed. He just didn’t know it could be this good. Sex had never been more than a release for him. Now, he begged to make it last and if it wouldn’t last, then to be able to make her come multiple times. To know he could make her feel as good as she made him feel.

If she kept voluntarily gripping him, he knew he wouldn’t last and he wanted her to come once before they came together. Bending slightly forward he ran his hand down the arm that disappeared under her stomach and danced between her cleft. Together they built a delicious friction that had her stomach tightening and burning for release. 

“I’m-I’m-I’m gonna-,” she cried out with every piercing jolt he pressed into her.

“Come for me, Zizi. Let me feel you,” he coaxed, making deliberate strokes in and out of her trying to hit the one spot which would help draw the orgasm right out of her.

“Sidney,” she whimpered, a breath catching in her throat as she felt like she was going to explode. And she did. She crashed around him in waves with a satisfied sob while he rocked softly wanting to feel every contraction.

Both his hands gripped her hips and guided her to sway against him. This drew out a humming moan as her hips swiveled and turned. When she knew what he wanted, his hands slid up her sides before clasping her breasts and twisting her perky nipples between his thumb and fore fingers. She teetered, used one shoulder to keep her face out of the leather and laced her fingers with his. It was like a cowboy spurring a horse and he was galloping to pace.

The hair in her face did little to stop her from watching his features. The sweat gathering on his brow and chest like he had just finished a shift on the ice. She loved to see him sweat. His perfectly smooth, clear skin flushed pink. His nostrils flared. She loved watching him.

Sidney felt her eyes on him under the wisps of brown hair. Moving one hand free of her chest and brushed the strands behind her ear. The feel of the silky, chestnut hair in his hands made him lace his fingers in deep and used it to pull her back into him. Her chin tilted up towards the ceiling, creating a beautiful arch in her back pushing her chest into the cushions. The pull parted her lips and gasps couldn’t be quieted. 

It was only a matter of how long he wanted this to last. His thighs were burning from the game and the power behind his movements. He needed to finish and lie down so he wasn’t completely useless the next day at practice before the team flew back out to New York. He still had to go home and repack his day bag. But hearing Elizabeth moan his name and an expletive, he was back in the moment. 

Elizabeth was out of breath and could feel the fire brewing again. Sidney knew how to please her, tonight was no different. Skin slapping, hair pulling, and his fingers finding the little pearl of nerves were doing her in.

Neither heard the key tumble the deadbolt, the door stop on the chain, nor the door close lightly, seconds before Elizabeth chanted Sid’s name. When she came for the second time, the force of her walls gripping set Sidney off. He barely made two more heaves before he lurched with an ‘ahh’.


	2. Part Two

You hit me just like heroin.  
I feel you coursing through my veins.  
I once tried to kick this addiction  
I swear I'll never kick again, won't ever kick again, no.  
  
\---------

James couldn’t believe was he was hearing. He had hoped to be the one someone would hear when he brought the twenty-two-year-old co-ed back to Sid’s downtown condo after buying her enough drinks to lower her inhibitions just enough to agree to the one-nightstand. _“Who is he with? Who is he fucking?”_ James thought, looking towards the blonde hanging off his arm. 

The condo had a chain specifically for this reason. Three or four guys had keys to the condo and the chain lock was better than the old sock on the doorknob most frat brothers used. James knew it was Sid in the condo, he had left the other guys at the bar. They were taking longer to seal the deal. 

“Let’s go back to my apartment,” the girl whose name was escaping him at the moment whispered, pulling on his lapel. 

“One minute,” he told her, shrugging her off him to grab his phone from his pocket. He had to try and find out who Sid was banging. Slipping his hand through the slot, he angled the camera into the condo. From the door you could see plenty of the open floor plan condo, he was bound to catch a photo of the debauchery occurring. When he pulled the phone back out into the hall to get a glimpse. On the screen there was clothes scattered around the sofa, and Sid had a slim brunette face-down, ass-up over the arm with his pale, white ass hammering away. 

The pure joy of having something to hold over Sid’s head in the room was better than sex. He didn’t even want to take this girl back to her place and celebrate the victory. There was an optional skate tomorrow, a captain’s skate. James had to be up early enough to beat everyone else to the rink. 

\---------

Sidney woke up to the feeling of soft breaths puffing on his chest. Curled up into his side with her head on his shoulder was the beauty he called his girlfriend. His parents knew he was seeing Elizabeth, they knew he had strong feelings for her, they also knew it was something they weren’t telling their friends about yet. Elizabeth had met his parents years ago. Trina had shared a moment with her son telling him that the girl was exactly what she hoped for her son’s future. Then she met Elizabeth’s then boyfriend and it all made sense. 

Last season when he took the puck to the face and Doctor Bitsy spent almost all her free time not with patients in Sid’s hospital room for the three days he was admitted. She studied and finished her charts while he slept through the pain medication and made sure he got the best tasting liquid meals the hospital could offer. On the last day bring him a vanilla salted caramel milkshake from The Milk Shake Factory in Southside. She had a raspberry chocolate truffle shake and a large box of chocolates to share with his parents and anyone else who showed. 

Trina had invited her over for dinner while taking care of him, but Elizabeth had just finished one rotation and was beginning a second-shift rotation putting her at the hospital from three-pm to eleven-pm. His mother wouldn’t take no for an answer and invited her to lunch, many lunches. Her plan was to make Elizabeth feel as much like one of the family and push the two together. Over the summer she was sure Elizabeth would come to Nova Scotia, but when the med student didn’t get off the private jet when she picked Sidney up at the airport her heart sunk. 

Sidney was sure if his mom knew he was lying naked in bed watching the woman she wanted to be her daughter-in-law sleep, well Trina would probably keel over with joy. Ok, so she knew he was probably with Elizabeth when he didn’t come home last night. And she was probably picking out card stock for their wedding invitations. “Zizi,” he cooed after dropping a kiss to her forehead. “Zi, wake up,” he added, squeezing his arms around her. “Baby, wake up. I’m hungry.”

Elizabeth loved waking up in his arms. It didn’t happen often. With his travel schedule since the Olympic break and the fact they were sneaking around their friends, they rarely spent the entire night together. At one of their places, anyone could stumble passed, and if anyone saw Sidney Crosby walk into a hotel they would alert the gossip blogs. They weren’t scared of the fans finding out. Elizabeth was more than capable to handle the stress. Med school made most things in life appear easier. It was what would occur if it hit the gossip blogs. First, the PR team would get an alert, then they would ask him to come in to find out how much was true. The information would trickle down through the organization, Mario would hear about it. Dan would too. And that’s when it would be mentioned in the room. Anytime anyone got a leg up on him, they took it. 

He had never been so open with sex. Before his Zizi, he had to make sure his exploits didn’t get broadcast. For some reason the fans thought he was a socially inept choir boy who would be a virgin until the day he married. This was far from the truth. Until the day Elizabeth caught Jacob, Sidney found solace in randoms he would bring back to this same condo for a nice blowjob before kicking them out. He would fuck one, here and there. But he was no where even close to the players Pauly and Nealer were. Only place he was a bigger player was on the ice, and even that had been lacking in the post-season. 

Elizabeth didn’t care how successful he was. Sure she loved to see him win and felt his heartbreak when he lost big games, but she loved him no matter what. 

“Mmm, no go back to sleep,” she grumbled, pressing her face into his shoulder. Her left hand was resting on his far hip and pulled herself closer to his solid body. “It’s Saturday, I don’t have to get up.” This caused him to laugh, wrapping her tighter in his strong arms.

“You don’t, but I do. I have practice later and fly out right after. I still have to go home and pack,” he mumbled into her hair, dropping kisses lightly. “Mom will want to have lunch with us both, so we need to get up and get ready. She’s probably called our phones fifty times already.”

\---------

Before one o’clock James was bouncing his knee in anticipation for Sid to show up for practice. After letting the girl give him head in the parking lot of her apartment building then driving home, he could barely sleep. He hadn’t told a soul what he heard last night. The girl asked who it was, but he dodged the question by shoving her face into his crotch. 

To waste time, he did his pre-workout stretches and road the bike to loosen up his hips and legs. Now he sat in his stall, clad in baselayer Under Armour and socks twirling his phone. He was really antsy waiting to bust his Captain for the booty call. 

When Sid walked in from the anterior dressing room in his baselayers and lacrosse shorts, James nearly jumped out of his skin. Everyone was in good spirits, even if they had lost horribly the night before. 

“Nealer, how’d that talent work out last night?” Pauly asked from his a spot on the carpet stretching. 

“Uh, not as expected. She gave me head in the car; I dropped her off and went home,” he shrugged. “How ‘bout you Sid, you have a nice night? You left pretty early.”

This caught Sid off guard and he took a moment to reply. “It was a nice night. Got some rest,” he explained with a shrug. 

“Really? Because I tried to use the condo last night and the door was chained. You weren’t there? All the others with keys were still at the bar when I left. Wonder who was there then,” James pondered, quipping an eyebrow.

“Oh, yeah, I didn’t feel like going home and dealing with mom trying to baby me,” Sid shrugged with a steeled expression. “You’ve seen how she can be.”

“Oh, really. Because it didn’t sound like there was much rest happening when I tried to get in,” James smirked, dragging his thumb across the phone screen. 

“You weren’t alone last night?” Marc-Andre Fleury asked from his end spot with a shit eating grin. 

“Wooo, Sid got laid,” Pascal Dupuis called out, throwing a Gatorade towel in the Captain’s direction. “Who was she? Do we know her?”

“She’s a girl I’ve been seeing,” Sid dodged, trying to keep the secret until he could talk to Elizabeth from his car on the way to the airport. 

“Girl with a hot ass body,” James whooped, holding his phone up to show off the photo. “If you can look passed Sid’s white ass, you can get an eyeful.”

“You took a picture!” Sid exclaimed, shooting up and over to the winger. “Let me see that. You need to delete that right now,” he told James through gritted teeth, reaching for the phone. Geno grabbed it out of James’ finger to get a glimpse of the faceless, leggy brunette. The team took turns playing keep-away and Sid was fuming. This wasn’t just some girl he had used to get his dick wet, this was Elizabeth. This was ultimately the love of his life. 

\---------

After their one night before he left town for two weeks for Russia, Elizabeth and Sidney carried on a tryst. They knew if their friends found out right away, they would never get the proper time in to decide if it really was worth risking three years of a great friendship. If their friends found out, they would never get real alone time. They barely got to hang out alone if they made plans which could be construed as completely platonic. Appearances must be kept up, before her break up with Jacob, she and Sid had been great friends. 

The night she fell asleep in the armchair wasn’t the first night she had done so. Since he had moved into his new house, Sid couldn’t count on one hand how many times it had happened. His house and the bar in the basement was a hit with their friends. If they wanted to have a good time, drink, but not be under the watchful public eye, then everyone would meet up at Sid’s for games, beer, and food. The occasional poker or movie night thrown into the mix. 

Elizabeth was who Sid confided in when he couldn’t talk to the guys. She was a voice of reason. Sid knew the real reason why she didn’t move in with Jacob, not the gas-guzzler excuse she gave everyone else. Elizabeth had doubts. Mostly in which Jacob was a philandering asshole, but also that she wasn’t truly in love with him. She had talked to a few of the girls about it, never mentioning Sidney being her biggest doubt. Emily Glass, Vero Fleury, and of course Kirsten, but she wanted to know what the man she had real feelings for thought. 

Just like Sidney waited for his chance, three years ago, Elizabeth had waited for him to show some type of interest. She made initial contact to check on his concussion symptoms, feigning interest just to talk to the guy she enjoyed talking to the first night at the bar. At the bar, she didn’t see him as Sid the Kid, Pittsburgh’s Golden Boy. He was Sidney, a nice Canadian guy with heart stopping eyes and a ridiculous laugh. The guy who winced with a headache, but asked her about school. He was genuinely interested in the life of the girl from a small West Virginia town who applied to Pitt just to spite her Mountaineer faithful father, and she was genuinely interested in him. 

While everyone else was busy asking when he thought he would be back on the ice, Elizabeth was the one trying to take his mind away from it. When he suffered his setback after finally returning to play, she helped make his life easier when she could step away from her textbooks. He couldn’t watch television, play video games, or workout. She brought him audiobooks which he would have read on his own. Because of her school schedule, she wasn’t around daily, and she gone over a week between seeing him. More than once she was the one picking him up and dropping him off at the airport as he sought out specialist’s opinions. 

If he didn’t want her as a girlfriend, then she would settle for being his friend who was a girl.

\---------

All throughout practice the guys chirped him, making it the worst practice of his life. When he called to let Elizabeth know what James had done, she was unable to talk. At that moment she was in Target with his mother picking up a few items she needed for the overnight trip. It took everything she had to control the squeal when he explained and told her he would call her once he was in the hotel. 

On the plane, his phone never left his possession. He made sure of it. No one was going to go through the phone and find texts, photos, and the like. _“James has a photo of Zizi and I having sex. James has a photo of Zizi naked,”_ was his constant thought. Granted James didn’t know it was Zizi, if he did Sidney was sure James would use it as shower material until he could find a way to delete the offensive breach of privacy. 

“How the hell did he get a photo?” Elizabeth squeaked when Sidney finally called her from the hotel.

“He tried to use the condo. He stuck his phone through the gap,” he explained, running a hand over his face as he laid back into the mound of pillows. “You can’t tell it’s you. You’re facing away from the camera.”

“That’s supposed to make me feel better?” she asked, groaning in frustration. “You have to get him to delete it.”

“I tried, he won’t delete it unless I tell him who it is,” he explained. “Maybe we should just tell them.”

“I’m not telling him until that photo is deleted from his phone and the cloud, because you know it’s on the cloud too. He would never agree to delete it completely if he knew,” she babbled, still in shock the photo had been snapped the previous night. “I’m ready to tell them. I just don’t know how to do it. You know Vero and Emily will be pissed at me. And we’ve had your parents lying for us too. It is great having this be our thing, but we have lied to our friends.”

“I know, I understand. Once we win the series, it’ll probably be forgotten,” he tried to reassure himself and her. 

“The picture will still be on his phone!” she exclaimed, tossing her head back exasperatedly. Before hanging up the phone Sidney tried to calm her down and figure out a way to delete the photo.

\---------

Team meeting before curfew. The banquet room had five rows of chairs facing a projector screen. On the screen the guys watched footage of the Game 5 loss. Sidney was in the front row, as always, seated next to Geno and Kunitz. Between video clips, Geno leaned over with an elbow nudge.

“Who is she?” his friend asked, a playful smirk teasing Sidney. Sid rolled his eyes and turned back to face front. “Great legs. The rest hot as those?” Geno prodded, trying to strike a nerve. 

“I’m not doing this. Don’t talk about her like that,” Sid told him, flexing his crossed arms the fingers of his right hand pressing deep into his left bicep. “She’s not just some fuck like the ones Nealer and Pauly take home.”

“So, she’s your girlfriend?” Kuni chimed in to ask, drawing out the first syllable. 

“Yeah, she’s my girlfriend,” Sidney told him with a sigh. “Now can you erase the image of her naked and bent over the sofa from your minds?”

“We not get name?” Geno asked, one eyebrow quipped and his lower lip hanging loose.

“Not yet. It’s our thing and we like it that way,” he told him with a shrug. “You’ll find out when we are ready.”

The rest of the evening went by slowly, when he was waving the key card in front of the door lock James was a few doors down with a self-satisfied grin. “Aye Cappy, this photo is going to really help me work out some frustrations tonight,” he chirped, watching Sidney’s face react before the captain’s legs got the jolt and he barreled down the hall towards the offender. James’ eyes went wide and he fumbled to get his door open and shut, beating the captain by mere inches. Sid’s fist came down hard against the hotel’s wooden door, screaming he was going to murder the lanky brunette. 

In the privacy of his own room, Sidney let out a yell and slammed a pillow on the bed a few times then tossing it toward the window. He collapsed back on the bed, taking regulated breaths to ease his blood pressure back to a more suitable level.


	3. Part Three

Well, those others were like methadone  
I took to get me through the day.  
Now I'm trying to find my way back home,  
Staying clean along the way.  
Hold out for the real thing, yeah.

 

Game 6 was absolutely ridiculous. The flight home was even worse. Showing up on Elizabeth’s doorstep unannounced at two-am on a Sunday night was rude, but he needed to see her. She had four more days of clinicals before finishing up med school completely on Thursday. Waking her up three hours before she had to be up to get ready was as rude as it got. After dropping his parents off at his house, he made the twenty minute drive as quickly as possible without getting pulled over for speeding.

He had a key, he didn’t wake her up until he was crawling into bed beside her. A scream caught in her throat, his hand clasping over her mouth while he ‘shh’d her and announced himself. The fear of someone being in her home had shot off a mist of adrenaline to her brain. She was awake now and her heart was racing. 

“I have to be at the hospital in five hours,” she complained, letting him wrap her up into his bare chest. “You scared the shit out of me.”

“I’m sorry. And I know, but I needed to see you,” he explained, squeezing her tightly and resting his chin on the top of her head. “The game sucked and you are the only one who just lets me be. You want me to win, but you don’t really care. You don’t ask me a thousand times if I’m ok. Though if you want, you could try to take my mind off of it,” he  
teased suggestively. 

“Oh so this is a booty call?” she laughed into his chest, nipping lightly at the skin. 

“I want to tell everyone before next Monday. I want to be able to kiss you and take pictures of you in your cap and gown. Can we tell them soon?” he asked, rolling away from her enough to get her to look him in the eye. 

“We have to delete that photo first. I think I have an idea how, but right now all I can think about is you in my bed half-naked,” she told him, biting her lip. “Seeing you try to go after Boyle, and then the scrum at the end was a bit of a turn on, especially after you were all dominating two nights ago.”

“As great as sex sounds, I really don’t know if I have it in me, and I don’t want to have less than great sex,” he reasoned, a deep sigh following. “Once after that Red Wings game was enough.”

“I’m never going to get back to sleep now. You realize this right?” she asked, cuddling back into his side. 

 

To mark the end of a series, win or lose, the group of friends always met for drinks. It was what they had done since twenty-eleven. Over the years, guys got traded, couples got together, couples broke up, some got married, and others had babies. No matter what, they all went to get at least one drink together before the next series or end of the season. The young mother’s were happy to have grandparents in town to watch the little ones so they could enjoy a night out with friends. 

Last year there had been a fight when Jacob tried to make Elizabeth leave with him two days after the Penguins were swept by Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals. She had told him to stay at home, he wasn’t friends with the players and neither party cared for the other. The guys were upset, they didn’t need an antagonist rolling his eyes every time they talked about how upset they were. 

Jacob didn’t like how much time Elizabeth spent with the rich, good looking, hockey players. No matter how much she rationalized they were just friends, Jacob would hear none of it. He didn’t like hockey and called the players Neanderthals. James didn’t help things with the cheap shots he had taken over the years, resulting in suspensions and fines. 

In retrospect, both SIdney and Elizabeth now knew the real reason. Neither hid the fact they would always prefer each other’s company over anyone else’s very well. For the first year Vero, Emily, and Kirsten questioned why they hadn’t gotten together. But after a while of her dating Jacob and Sidney seeing a few girls here and there, they all quieted and accepted the fact the two were just friends. 

Guys and girls could be friends. Contrary to popular belief, friendships could work between the opposite sexes. Yes, at one point or another, one or both parties would want more, it was getting past those feelings which proved the friendship was substantial. 

 

The bar was moderately crowded, a few college student stragglers left over from the weekend’s graduation and move-outs. Around the upstairs table waiting on the rest of the men to show up from their first bar adventure were Vero, Emily, and Elizabeth. They were chatting about where Elizabeth saw herself after her graduation the following Monday. She had to study for boards, and go over the offers from the hospitals she had applied. 

“Where all have you applied? Are you even trying to stay in Pittsburgh?” Vero asked, glancing at the time on her phone. She knew she only had about ten more minutes before the rowdy boys showed up. “We know you are in the top five-percent of your class. Doesn’t that mean you have the pick of hospitals? Did UPMC make an offer?”

“UPMC did offer me an internship, but I had a few hospitals in Boston, New York, and DC extend offers for interviews once I pass the USMLE - medical boards. As did Ruby Memorial in Morgantown.” She took a deep breath and thought about the decision she needed to make. “I have to decide if I’m going to go stay with my parents while I study for the boards or extend my lease.” Really she was waiting for Sidney to ask her to stay. If he asked her to stay, then she would accept the position at UPMC. 

“All of those options are so far away from us Bizzy,” Emily told her, scrunching her face up in disapproval. “We’ll all miss you if you leave.”

“You don’t think I wouldn’t miss you guys as well?” Elizabeth told her two friends. “I don’t want to leave.”

“Then don’t,” Vero said softly. “Stay here at UPMC.” The conversation trickled to a silent standoff as Elizabeth stared down into her pint glass, thinking of what she should do. Graduation on the nineteenth was looming, she had already started working on the treatments and dosages she had problems remembering for the boards. Where she would be after her June test date was the only question. 

The guys chose that moment to walk in to the bar, stopping the chatter of the starstruck college students. They were all dressed in jeans, some in trendy t-shirts, others in casual button downs. Sidney had on jeans and one of his favorite navy tees. He looked good in blue, Elizabeth loved how it sat against his creamy skin. It was a little game they had played recently. The first time she told him how handsome he was in blue, it had ended with sex on his kitchen counter. After that, he wore blue whenever he was going to be around her and knew she couldn’t touch him. Her eyes raked over his frame, jaw clenching when her eyes lingered on his biceps. The cotton of the shirt was just big enough to skate around the muscles without straining. 

One regulated breath before she pulled her lower lip between her teeth, looking down into her half-full glass of two-dollar Yuengling. The longer they hid their relationship from those closest to them, the harder it got to keep the secret. She was aware of his presence as he climbed the stairs and took a seat across from her, the wooden chair moaning as it scooted across the plank floor.

“What’s going on?” James asked as he ascended the stairs, three drinks in hand. He sat one down in front of his captain and another slid across the table to Elizabeth. “For the future team doctor.”

“We’re trying to convince Bizzy to stay in Pittsburgh after she passes the boards,” Emily announced, causing Sidney to choke on the sip he was taking of his whiskey and coke. 

“What? You aren’t going to take the UPMC spot?” he asked, eyes wide in shock. His heart clenched at the fear of her leaving. “Where else would you go?”

Another regulated breath before she looked up to meet his stare. “I’m weighing my options. A few hospitals across the seaboard have offered me interviews once I pass the exam,” she explained, nodding her head as she spoke. A nauseous feeling tickled the back of her throat when Sidney’s mouth fell open slightly. 

“Bits you can’t leave us! Who’s going to take care of us when we’re sick?” James asked voraciously. 

“Someone else,” she laughed. “And I’m never going to show up in a nurse's costume to nurse you back to health if I did stay. There are actual team doctors to take care of you and prostitutes or co-eds to dress up for your fantasies,” she added, rolling her eyes. 

“Speaking of fantasies. You’ll never guess what I caught this guy doing,” James proclaimed, throwing his head back with eyes wide. “Seems our dear ol’ Cappy has a fuck buddy he hasn’t told us about,” he added, slapping Sid on the shoulder. 

Elizabeth tried not to be wavered, had he told them the sex was just sex. “I never said it was a fuck buddy,” Sid answered her thoughts. “You assumed it was casual sex. I’ve been seeing the girl.”

“Oh Sid, you have a girlfriend,” Vero cooed, silently upset her hopes of Sid and Bizzy together were getting squashed again. “When will we get to meet her?”

“We are working on that,” he dodged, a sheepish purse pulling the corners of his mouth. Elizabeth kept from chewing her lower lip by downing the rest of her first beer, then grabbing the second from James and taking another gulp. 

“So how did you get caught?” Emily asked, raising her eyebrows as her husband pulled a seat up next to her. 

“Caught, he snapped a picture of Sid laying into the girl,” Tanner said, laughing boisterously. “Show ‘em the picture.”

“I’m sure we could do without seeing a photo of Sid having sex,” Elizabeth shook her head, rolling her eyes for effect. “How long have you had a picture of your friend on your phone? You know you get to see him naked almost daily right?”

“It’s not for the view of Sid,” James told her, eyebrows wagging as he pulled his phone out and brought up the photo. He flashed the screen for Vero and Emily to get a look.

“You can barely make out anything, but her legs, their clothes on the floor, and those shoes,” Emily said, zooming in on the shoes.

“Oh my god,” Vero blurted out, eyes going wide.

“What’s wrong, mon amour?” Marc-Andre asked, turning away from the television which was showing highlights of the game.

“I-, I’ve seen those shoes,” she blubbered, eyes still wide before shaking it off. “I saw them at Nordstrom's and almost bought them,” she smiled. “You’re girlfriend has good taste,” she told Sidney, looking at him pointedly. When Elizabeth snatched the phone from Emily’s hand, Vero made eye contact with her friend in the same pointed manner. Gulping, Elizabeth prayed her friend would stay quiet for just two more minutes.

“Well James, if this hockey thing doesn’t work out, don’t become a photographer,” Elizabeth shook her head while taking a look at the photo. Sid was right, you couldn’t tell it was her. But those fucking shoes. She had to buy them the last time she and Vero went shopping. Quickly as possible she deleted the photo from the phone, then went to his cloud folder, hoping not to find any nudes of James himself or one of his many lady friends. “Oh, would you look at that,” she cried in a mock shock. “The photo's gone,” she said, laying the phone on the table and sliding it to James who had a real shocked expression on his face. 

“What? Why’d you do that?” James said, searching both albums for the photo. “Why?” he cried.

“I don’t think you should have a naked photo of Sid’s girlfriend on your phone,” she told him with a shrug. “It’s a privacy breach. He obviously cares for her.”

“It’s not like you could see her face,” James said exasperatedly. 

“It’s the principle. I didn’t think you should have that photo on your phone,” she shrugged. She had done what she needed to do, Vero was free to ruin her cover and probably would at any moment now. 

“Why is it a big deal?” James asked still acting with exaggeration. She just shrugged again, looking down at her pint glass and then stealing a glance at Sidney. He had an amused smile plastered over his plump lips. 

“It’s her,” Vero squealed. “Those were her shoes! She’s Sid’s mystery girlfriend!”

“What?!” a few of the guys gasped, looking between Sidney and Elizabeth.

“No way, we would have noticed something,” James shook his head, not buying it. 

“But you didn’t,” Elizabeth teased with a smirk. “Three months and you all weren’t one the wiser.”

“Three months? You kept it a secret for three months?” Emily asked, both amused and excited.

Sidney sat quietly, smiling as he searched for the bottom of his glass shaking the ice around. He couldn’t help the goofy giggle he emitted. “That? You’re dating that?” James asked incredulously. 

“Oh, you know I’m doing much more than just dating that,” she laughed, biting her lower lip. The table sat quiet for a few moments until Kirsten stumbled in after finishing up the bit for the eleven o’clock news.

“Hey hey,” she said, pulling up a seat between Marc-Andre and Geno who sat tight-lipped as the entire reveal went on. “Ok, who died?” she joked, taking a drink out of Geno’s beer. 

“Sid and Bits are dating,” Marc-Andre said, motioning between the two. 

“Oh, Bits, you’re finally admitting it?” Kirsten asked, sitting back in her chair. All eyes at the table trained in on her. “What? You guys didn’t figure it out months ago? I thought we were all just letting them think we didn’t know.”

Mouths hung open at Kirsten’s statement and it wasn’t until a chair squeaked against the floor at the end of the table that everyone turned. “Well since that’s out in the open, I’m going to take my girlfriend home and do some bad things to her,” Sid said, throwing back his drink. Elizabeth’s face flushed deep maroon as he pulled her out of her seat and towards the stairs; their friends whooping at the couple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written before I had my experience with the med school/residency match. I now know how it works and it's not like how I wrote this.


End file.
